Fence-rail.



UNITED STAT- s I Patented November 3, 1903.

P TENT OFFICE.

RICHARD o. STEWART, JR., AND wALLAoE A. STEWART, E COVINGTON,

KENTUCKY. p l A FENCE-RAIL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,046, dated November3, 1903.

Application filed June 29,1903. Serial No. 163,507. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, RICHARD G. STEWART, Jr., and WALLACE A. STEWART,citizens of the United States, residing in Covington, in the county ofKenton and State of Kentucky,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Iron Fence-Rails;and we do declare the following to be a clear, full, and exactdescription thereof, attention being called To to the accompanyingdrawings, with the reference characters marked thereon, which form alsoa part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in the construction of ironstructures,like fences, r 5 and where they consist of angularly-arrangedmembers held in place on each other by one set of said memberspassingthrough perforations in the other. Referring more particularly tofences, these members are reprezo sented as to one set by the picketsand as to the other by the rails, the former passing through theselatterand through perforations in them. They are now held in place againstslipping in these perforations by various con- 2 5 trivances, and oftenmerely a tight fit, in-

creased by swaging, is sometimes relied upon to hold them in place.Owing to the slenderness of these members there is not much room andmaterial at disposal to provide for 0 more substantial methods ofjoining, and such means as rivets, screws, and bolts are objectionableas being more or less unsightly and out of place on fences, especiallyWhere they are more or less ornamental.

To overcome the objections of an imperfect joint and to provide meanswhich permit a substantial connection to be made between the members tobe joinedthat is, in a fence between the pickets and the rail-and with-;0 out appreciable increase in manufacturing cost is the object of ourinvention. The

same consists of the construction, arrangement, and means as hereinafterdescribed and claimed, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings,in which-- Figure 1 shows in perspective view a section of an iron fenceconsisting of vertical pickets held in place by horizontal rails and inthe manner prescribed by our invention.

In its outward appearance such a fence does not differ from a customaryfence. Fig. 2 is vsition by means as shown at 13.

an enlarged cross-section through one of the rails at a point where oneof the pickets passes through it. Fig. 3, also enlarged, shows a portionof such a rail in longitudinal section, the

connection of the engaged parts being completed. Fig. t is an under sideview of such a rail portion and shows the manner in which .our inventionis carried out in practice. Figs.

5, 6, 7, and 8 show various modified profiles of fence-rails, allapplicable in the use of our invention.

In the drawings, 10 represents the pickets held in position by rails 11,the two together constituting the fence. There may be any number ofrails, and the pickets may all be of the same length or of alternativelydiiferent lengths, as shown. The upper ends of the pickets may befinished more or less ornamentally and provided with points or knobs 12,and the fence may be held in upright po- The rails consist of the fiatportion 11, having one but more usually two flanges 11 to obtainstiffness and rigidity, the whole together forming a so-calledchannel-iron. The pickets are held in upright position bypassing throughperforations 14 in them and in which they closely fit, all as best shownin Fig. 2. The formation of these rails of ordinary channeliron endowsthem, even with limited thickness of the metal, with stability more thansufficient for requirements and purposes, and the metal is thereforemade not thicker than really necessary, the object being to reduceweight and save metal where such is not needed. The limited thickness ofthe usual channel-rail, while not objectionable as impairing thestrength of the rail, reduces, however,

the possibility of providing substantial connecting means to hold thepicket against slipping within the perforation 14; of the rail, all asalready referred to, and which is due to the limited extent of oppositesurfaces coming in contact between picket and rail, owing to the limitedthickness of the ordinary chan- To overcome these objections andnel-rail. to provide additional metal, we increase the thickness of thesame where the picket passes through the rail, the increase being on theinner or under side of the rail and between the flanges 11 thereof andas shown at 11 in Figs. 3, 4., 5, 6, 7, and 8. This increase does,however, not extend laterally to flanges 11", the object being toproduce grooves 11, the purpose of which will be presently explained.This increase in thickness also increases the contact between oppositesurfaces of the engaged parts, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, sothat,prov'ided the pickets are fitted tightly, the mere increasedfrictional contact furnishes in itself a means of engagement fairlysecure. The increased thickness furthermore provides a possibilityofusing other additional means, like rivets or screws, should such bedesired, so as to render the engagement between pickets and railsabsolutely secure against displacement and slipping. The grooves 11,provided at each side of this increased part and between the edges ofsuch part and flanges 11", permit access for the application of suchmeans. However, this latter method referred to is hardly necessaryinfences, and sufficient hold of the pickets is obtained bya riveting orcalking procedure and whereby part of the metal of the increased portion11 thereat and between flanges 11 is swaged against the pickets, asshown at 15 in Fig. 3, the procedure being shown in Fig. 4. A suitabletool 16 is used, and the metal of rail 11 from its increased part 11 andWhere it surrounds or abuts against the pickets is driven tightlyagainst and partly into these latter, as shown in Fig. 3, themanipulation being usually called swaging or calkingfi The driven metalbeing free to spread by yielding into grooves 11, it is clear that theeffect of the force exerted by the delivered hammer-blows extends deeperinto the metal, so that an extensive engaging contact between theopposite metal surfaces takes place. At the same time these grooves, bypermitting any metal crowded away from the pickets yield into them,prevent disfiguring of the rail. This manner of holding the pickets isrigid and secure and sufflcient for all practical purposes in a fenceand does away also with previous notching of the pickets, as is done insome fence constructions. The additional metal for these purposes beingon the under side of the rail with reference to its position inthe'finished fence is therefore not visible, and as far as appearance isconcerned our improved rail does not look any diflerent from or heavierthan the usual channel-rail. This metal may be given differentprofile-lines, some modifications of it being shown in Figs. 5 to S. Theshape of this outline is, however, immaterial, the main point being theadditional metal, to increase correspondingly the contact between theopposite surfaces of the engaging parts and the groove on each side ofit, to permit the swaged metal to yield and spread laterally. In thisrespect ourinvention diflers from the rails disclosed in Patent No.428,291, where no grooves are provided between the increased part andthe lateral flanges into which the metal displaoedby the swaging actionmay yield. It also differs from Patent No. 262,879, where metalfurnished by internal flanges is bent into notches previously providedin the pickets. In our construction no notched pickets are required, theconnection being obtained by merely driving the metal from the increasedmetal on the under side of the rail tightly against the pickets, anymetal which is displaced by the driving or swaging action yieldinglaterally into the grooves between this increased metal and the lateralflanges.

Having described our invention, we claim as new- A fence-rail consistingof aflat outer part and of angular flanges at the edges thereof, thepart between the flanges being perforated to receive fence-pickets andof a thickness which provides on the inner side of the rail sufficientadditional metal to be driven and swaged against the pickets to holdthem securely in place and grooves provided at each side of thisincreased part and between the angular flanges into which part of themetal driven against the pickets may yield and spread laterally.

In testimony whereof we hereunto set our signatures in the presence oftwo witnesses.

RICHARD O. STEWART, J R. WVALLACE A. STEWART. Witnesses:

C. SPENGEL, ARTHUR -KLINE.

